Next Up

Brette Crockett is a Registered Social Worker, born and raised in Saskatoon on Treaty 6 Territory. Her passions lie in trauma, resilience, and decolonization. In other parts of her life she fills the roles of mother, yoga teacher, performer, partner, activist, and life-long learner. For self care, Brette spends much of her time moving: practicing yoga, walking her dog, exploring partner acrobatics, cycling, and playing with her family. Being outside, reading, and being a bit too intense about current events would also make the list.

Julie King is a Metis woman who was born in Meadow Lake SK, but grew up in Saskatoon SK, which is where she lived until 2012, when she completed her Bachelor of Social Work degree. Julie currently resides in La Ronge SK and works for the Government of Saskatchewan serving youth in several northern communities throughout the province. Julie is passionate about youth justice issues. Julie’s proudest accomplishment is her nine year old son Sebastian. 

Amber Bellegarde is a Cree/Nakota woman from the Little Black Bear First Nation located in Treaty 4 territory. She moved with her family to Saskatoon during her teen years and has lived there, give or take a year, ever since. After a couple years of post-secondary soul-searching, Amber graduated from SIAST’s Youth Care certificate program where her interests in program development and the justice system grew. She is returning to the University of Saskatchewan to complete a Native Studies degree and ultimately plans on continuing her education in law school. Education, justice, culture, and sports are four areas that she holds dear to her heart and hopes to incorporate in her future career. Amber wants to do her part, whatever that may be, in securing a safe, equitable, and prosperous way of life for future generations to come.

Samantha Mathews is a young activist who graduated from a youth leadership program called Next Up, a national program aimed at young leadership from 18-32 to engage in social and environmental issues and learn progressive leadership skills and she hopes to engage indigenous young people back in her territory to become politically engaged and learn traditional forms of governance.

Currently involved in advocating for food sovereignty, Samantha has done language and medicine walks and workshops with her mom and protecting indigenous food systems; has been involved in such movements like the Tiny House Warriors, a movement to build tiny houses to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline from being built in Secwepemc territory; has also helped and visited frontline actions like Camp Ulluisc on St’at’imc territory against the logging and mining on ancestral lands and the Matriarch camp on Lekwegun territory occupying the BC premier’s office in support of banning the fish farms and supporting the fish farm occupations up on ‘Namgis and Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw territories. She is currently on the working group for developing NAN’s food symposium and has been invited to blog for Sustain Ontario about her backpacking adventures of visiting nations and learning of medicines, teachings, food histories/systems, industry issues and actions that she documents on social media. She hopes to grow food for frontline action camps one day. 

Hello! My name is Ashley Shaw, I’m a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Saskatchewan. I’m in the School of Environment and Sustainability and I’m currently writing a thesis regarding the integration of Indigenous knowledge within Geographic Information Systems and its feasibility within Canadian forest management plans. 

I am a first generation Canadian. My parents are from Guyana, a small country in South America. I’ve traveled all over and I can speak 3 languages (but I swear I can understand around 7!). I’ve studied almost everything you can think of and I’ve recently published a research paper regarding parasites infecting crickets.

Also, I hate beets. Which is unfortunate because I currently reside within a non-profit Ukrainian hostel.

Thank you! 

Passionate about feminism and queering spaces, Chelle has taken part in several projects related to queer and trans* rights, including campaigns that successfully pushed for changes to the SK Human Rights Code and the SK Vital Statistics Act. She has been involved in a variety of community organizations in Saskatchewan, including TransSask Support Services, OUTSaskatoon, Global Gathering Place, and EGADZ. Currently, Chelle is completing a Master of Social Work program at the University of British Columbia. 

Jordan Sherbino was born in Treaty 6 territory in rural Saskatchewan, but he has called Saskatoon home ever since first attending the University of Saskatchewan to begin a political studies degree—and he even called Saskatoon home when living in Victoria for graduate school. He now does communications work at the U of S in the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives where he has to continually unlearn to use the Oxford comma. 


Jordan serves as the secretary of the board of directors for OUTSaskatoon, a non-profit that works to create a community that values people of diverse gender identities and sexualities. Previously, he was deeply involved with the students’ movement and served as an executive member of the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union. 


When Jordan isn’t attending meetings or contemplating the Canadian constitution, he likes to unwind by spending time with his partner Mitchell, failing at cooking extravagant foods, and enjoying the occasional pint.

Rebecca was born and raised in Saskatoon. She is excited to be a part of Next Up, so she can broaden her understanding of social and environmental issues and find ways to turn passion to action! Rebecca studied Sociology at the U of S a few years back, and is currently deciding on what she wants to pursue in her next big adventure: grad school… (Probably. She is a bit indecisive). She is interested in becoming more involved in activism, as well as learning more about the theories, structures, and practices of activist culture. 


People are what inspire Rebecca, and she values her friendships and the opportunity to find and participate in new networks like Next Up. Rebecca loves yoga, art, ukulele and guitar, sci-fi, soccer, coffee dates, and walking around in the city and in nature! 

Lisa was born and raised on Treaty 7 land in Calgary AB, has spent time living in Vancouver BC and now calls Saskatoon (Warman) SK home. She has a passion for animal rights, environmental sustainability, and health equity and has a masters degree in Sociology (Health) from UBC. She currently works at the University of Saskatchewan as a coordinator in the Division of Social Accountability, supporting the College of Medicine in its efforts to ensure all of its activities are aligned with the priority health needs of Saskatchewan residents. In past jobs she has worked in evaluation for cancer screening, quality improvement, and patient engagement. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys getting outside for a run, sweating it out at hot yoga, crafting it up at home or mixing it up in the kitchen trying out a new vegan recipe. While she fondly misses having Stanley Park and the English Bay seawall in her backyard, she has enjoyed putting down roots in Saskatchewan and loves how interconnected the community is here. She feels we are truly on the cusp of some radical social change and has been working to embody the changes she hopes to see in our society in both her personal and professional life. She believes that even one person has the power to create lasting and impactful change and that we have far more in common with one another than we do differences. She dreams of a world where every individual is provided with the foundation to live a full and happy life and hopes to leave this world better than she found it for future generations. 

Christina grew up on a farm not far from Saskatoon where her curiosity about the world & love for the Saskatchewan prairies began. Since Next Up, she has been employed with Mental Health & Addiction Services as a Social Worker & is nearing the completion of a Master’s of Social Work degree. During this time she also began to pursue a passion for photography & videography & has had the honour of documenting many engagements, weddings & births. Inspiration & motivation for all this is, of course, her two young sons & supportive husband.